I thought this could be a fun -- and potentially useful -- thread. What have been some of your favorite entries, regardless of round, from previous contests? Things that have stuck with you, whether they've been officially implemented into the game or not.
I think my favorite item remains the shadow falconer's glove. Just great stuff. Also love the goblin skull bomb and the batrachian helm. Oddly, one of my other favorite items didn't even make it into the Top 32, but was the firefly headband that was posted in the Critique My Item thread (I think it was Jerry Keyes', in 2012).
Archetypes, I think it's got to be the hound master. Like the shadow falconer's glove, just one of the best entries in the contest regardless of round.
For monsters, probably the pyrebloom sticks out most for me. Cool beastie that I could totally see in a bestiary.
I know it didn't advance, but I think hungry dragon mountain may have been one of my favorite encounters. I thought the core idea was a ton of fun and it was just the execution that kept it from getting more votes.
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Sticky Pugfoot - if only I could name things like that.
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I started following the contest with the 2011 edition, so I'll only consider the entries from that year onwards.
Some of my favorite entries are:
RPG Superstar 2011 - Round 3: Artus Nemati's Varstrius, Connoisseur of Living Dolls
RPG Superstar 2011 - Round 4: Sam Zeitlin's The Black Mirror
RPG Superstar 2012 - Round 1: James Olchak's Rajah's Silhouette
RPG Superstar 2012 - Round 4: Steve Miller's Brike Isle
RPG Superstar 2013 - Round 1: James Conder's Map of Refuge
RPG Superstar 2013 - Round 3: Scott Fernandez's Yellowtongue Hulk
There are many other great submissions, though.
I think of those that I still remember as 'favorites' and that will skew toward items for me. Off the top of my head (in no particular order):
Twin Tone Flute, Spider Hook, Snapleaf, Phial of the Ebon Flame, Bracelet of Shields, Tankard of the Cheerful Duelist, Quicksand Cloak, and the Kraken Crown. They have all made it into my games in some fashion. There are others. Is it fair to add them without links, years or names?
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The only thing that immediately comes to mind is how much I liked Garrett's "Beardforge" from last year. It didn't get through though. :p
Migrus Locker
I thorougly disliked that one, but I got over it ;>
Yes Migrus hate was quite the thing back in the day
Migrus Locker was a superstar item? Well-played whomever that was.
Migrus Locker was a superstar item? Well-played whomever that was.
Yup, Migrus Locker was made by Samuel Kisko in the very first RPG Superstar contest in 2008.
Some of my favorite items are, in no particular order
* Eric Hindley's Shadow Falconer's Glove from 2011
* Scott Fernandez's Nightmare Boots from 2011
* Tom Philip's Feywhisper Crown from 2012
* James Raine' Spellbreaker Gauntlets from 2012
* Jacob Trier's Sunrise Shawl from 2012 (although I admittedly have a very strong bias in this case.)
RPG Superstar 2013
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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I realize some called it a siac, but Neil's autumn leaves are still among my favorites the contest has ever produced. Remember to have great cinematics in your item descriptions!
A non-top-32 item I loved from last year was the candle that burned until its attuned subject died or left the plane. That went immediately into my first adventure draft for last year's contest, but then I had to change adventures.
I liked the migrus locker. The first year of Superstar celebrated some gonzo ideas, but it's still regarded as year with the most great Superstar memories. That's not just because it's the first year. Who could forget a nation of blink dog tribes warring against phase spiders, or the permafrost of Iskandria, where heroes are hunted by scantily-clad sorcerers and social standing is based on donating wealth or body parts to the Motherland?
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7
aka primemover003
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So many entries to pour through, but the entries that tickled my fancy the most and to me the most memorable are...
Best Wondrous Items:
rajah's silhouette
shadow falconer's glove
Best Encounter Locations:
Eightfinger's Tomb
The Rotting Kremlin--
The Old Cassomir Dollhouse
Best Villains:
Tarvin Haddon, Agent of the Grim Harvestman
Varstrius, Connoisseur of Living Dolls
Best Archetype:
The Hound Master (cavalier)
--Vrock Solid
Eightfinger's Tomb is probably the best single entry, regardless of round, that was not a module pitch.
The Hound Master should totally be published. It is something that is fabulous in concept that the class really needs.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Boxhead
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Thanks for all the love for the shadow Falconer's glove! It is very much appreciated.
Some of my favourites were the snap leaf, the seven thousand blossoms and the tankard of the cheerful duelist.
Last year I remember being surprised that the weathered quiver was not Top 32. Unless I missed something glaring I still think the author got robbed and should have advanced.
Last year I remember being surprised that the weathered quiver was not Top 32. Unless I missed something glaring I still think the author got robbed and should have advanced.
I didn't remember the item so looked it up. It is a very good item, but it lacks that Superstar mojo.
There is a difference between perfectly good, publishable items and Superstar items.
When you read the item, does it make you go
a) "Yup, I can see how that would be used/useful" - this indicates it is of publishable quality - i.e. the term is "good enough for a book of items" item. The polish, template, mechanics may be balanced, perfect and good, but the items are usually lacking the underlying potential that is Superstar.
or, do you go..
b) "Wow, wish I had that on my character right now!", or "What a brilliant idea" or simply "Cool! Ubah!" or things like that - that's the Superstar grab. These are the items that will consistently win votes and show great promise.
So I suspect the weathered quiver is an a) not a b).
Just looking at the name alone - even with me being the absolute undisputed king of bad naming, I can say that it's kind of boring. Weathered - left out in the rain for days and days, dry and brittle, cracked, peeling leather, old, really old - all images conjured by this word - so I suspect it was a competent item that didn't excite enough to constantly garner votes.
This is another factor. I probably voted on that very item a number of times but I simply can't remember it - which means it didn't stand out or wow me. That element is probably all it missed, the grab factor. This is the same problem my prior items had, good technical execution, perfect templates, game balanced rules and not a lot of shiny.
This year, I have tried to focus on the shiny a lot more. This means my entry this year may not be as polished rule balanced template perfection of prior years, but it hopefully will grab the attention with its visuals this year.
Only Top 32 reveal day will reveal if I have gotten it right this year, but that I think is everyone's challenge - grabbing the attention of the voter so that it doesn't let them go.
I think that more than anything else it indicates that what I am looking for in an item is subtly different from most people's taste. What I saw in the quiver was that it grabbed my attention despite the fact I was prioritizing things that went balls to the wall mechanically.
What the voting last year helped with was allowing me to tailor my item for this year to the community's tastes more, which is invaluable.
What the voting last year helped with was allowing me to tailor my item for this year to the community's tastes more, which is invaluable.
I think it is interesting that you say it that way. I think that may be one of the biggest challenges in this contest, but also the challenge that helps the true best of the best rise to the top. Tailoring to the community's tastes could get you past the public voting, but not have what it takes to wow a judge. I think some people will design their items to appeal to the masses, but to that end they will change something that will cause it to not appeal to the judges. Not saying that mass voter appeal and judge appeal are mutually exclusive, but I fear it could be in certain circumstances.
When it comes to appealing to the masses, I also think there will be people who decide not to vote for my item for a mechanical reason, and others who will vote for it for that exact same reason. Some people might not appreciate some form of subtle humor I might have tried to use to add flavor, while others will think that is the best part about it. I think some people will get so hung up on the list of "auto-reject" rules that they will take those as gospel instead of suggestions, and the item could suffer in the rankings as a result.
With all of that said, I also think it SHOULD be that way. A true superstar item is going to feel different when you read it. Just like you justify or ignore flaws in a person you are head over heels infatuated with, a superstar item is going to have the appeal to make you want to justify or ignore minor flaws, because it is just so awesome.
I have also never done this before (submitted yesterday to prevent myself from continuing to agonize over my item) so take anything I say with a grain of salt. I have no designer street cred, so to speak. Just my $.02.
I say that in the context of my entry from last year having the flaw of "does not play well with others" and with a more tactical, less awesomely visual effect. This year I learned from what the consensus was on my item in the critique thread.
All said, after years of RPGSS and Blazing 9 threads there has been enough discussion about design (including back and forth with professionals) here that I would say that the Paizo community is nearly as well qualified to judge items as the judges. So working with the community's tastes is not pandering, it leads to an objectively better entry.
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I'd venture to say that tailoring your item to appeal to the masses is no guarantee. It certainly helps elevate your item for examination by the judges as one of the "crowd favorites." But, the judges are already on record in saying that some of the items which were in the upper echelon of those ranked by the crowd-sourced voting, still fell out of favor with them when deciding which made the Top 32. As a result, they bypassed some of them and continued working down the line until they found 32 they felt were worthy of taking through the competition.
So, bottom line, you've got to please both audiences. The first hurdle is something inventive and innovative enough to appeal to the average gamer voting from home. And, in my opinion, many of them vote more for what they think is a cool item for use in the game or their home campaign. Meanwhile, the second (and more significant) hurdle is to design something eyecatching enough as to your potential as a designer so that the judges want to see what more you can do in the actual competition. Your wondrous item is your calling card...or your resume...to hopefully get you through both those doors. And it's not all that different in the real world of freelancing, because you've got to win over your editors/developers in addition to the public. So, the contest does a good job of modeling that.
Also, to use an American Idol example, lots of people watch the auditions from home and say, "Wow, that person can really sing!" That's their personal evaluation as a "judge" of sorts. In fact, they kind of represent the evaluators those singers had to perform for before they even got the green-light to stand in front of the judges...i.e., actual American Idol auditions include several rounds of evaluations, not just your 5 minutes in front of the judges and the TV cameras...and they're done by other people from the final judges you see on TV. Yet, it's ultimately the responsibility of the actual judges to determine if they see enough "spark" in an individual to give them a ticket to Hollywood. That's not just their talent, but the whole potential package. And that's basically what's playing out in RPG Superstar. The crowdsourced voting sends a bunch of items up to the judges for consideration, but it's the judges' opinions which count in the end. As a competitor, you want to sway both audiences. You want them to value you for inclusion in the show. And, once you make it to Hollywood, you've got to start winning over the MUCH larger audience of voters who'll scrutinize your subsequent performances, too.
Honestly, I bring all this up, because my biggest fear (and fear might be too strong of a word) regarding the crowd-sourced voting is that designers are going to go back to the drawing board and just focus on trying to appeal to the masses. And I think that's a strategic misstep. It's certainly important. No doubt. You want to design something that can clear that hurdle, for sure. But don't lose sight of the forest for the trees. The actual judges are the ones who ultimately select you for Top 32. As such, you need to design something that's not just "popular," but also an impressive enough series of design decisions and talent indication that the actual judges pick you as a designer they want in the competition. Because, remember, this isn't about who designs the best wondrous item. Too many people get hung up on that. Instead, it's a competition to select who has the potential to be a Superstar designer. Often, the best items go hand-in-hand with that, but not always. And that leads to people who scratch their heads over why one "item" made it through over a bunch of others they thought were superior. More often than not, I think that happens because they're voting for items rather than designers. And the judges are voting for designers rather than just the items. And so they vote for what that wondrous item seemingly tells them about a designer's potential more than the actual execution of just the item itself.
That's a really significant element which the wisest competitors realize going in, and they rightly tailor their designs accordingly.
But that's just my two cents,
--Neil
That was a way better way of saying what I was trying to say.
But what I really want to know Mr. Spicer, is did you get my joke about cleaning up the leaves in the Guild hall? No one else did.
Totally kidding, you don't have to go back and find it. Not sure I could find it either.
But what I really want to know Mr. Spicer, is did you get my joke about cleaning up the leaves in the Guild hall? No one else did.
Oh, I saw it. What I really want to know is if you noticed the fey assassins which infiltrated your home this morning. :->
[Morning Headline]
[Papasteve08 found slain in his home this morning. Doors were locked from the inside. Authorities are clueless. Nothing appears to be missing, though the body was found amidst reams of paper scattered about the room. One of the papers was titled "Wondrous item, revision 437"]
[duhn duhn duuuuuuuuuuhhhhhnnnnnnnn]
*edit* added paper scattered
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[Morning Headline]
[Papasteve08 found slain in his home this morning. Doors were locked from the inside. Authorities are clueless. Nothing appears to be missing, though the body was found amidst reams of paper scattered about the room. One of the papers was titled "Wondrous item, revision 437"]
[duhn duhn duuuuuuuuuuhhhhhnnnnnnnn]
Wait. If this is true...
Then who's posting as Papasteve08!
[duhn duhn duuhhnn!]
The posts are coming... from inside the server!
The Culling, coming soon to a screen near you.
Prepare for Pain......
I am Papasteve08! I am definitely NOT a master of disguise fey assassin.
No I'm not.
Nuh uhh
Nuh uhh
I know you are but what am I?
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I am Papasteve08! I am definitely NOT a master of disguise fey assassin.
No I'm not.
Nuh uhh
Nuh uhh
I know you are but what am I?
Ah, obviously you've already submitted your item and now the waiting has started gnawing at your sanity.
Gulga Cench
Archtypes: Houndmaster, Huckster
Monsters: Caltrop Golem, Ardorwesp
Items: Feywhisper Crown, Paper Folding Instructions of Master Mo